What are the Different Types of Business Continuity Careers?

Business continuity management is a growing field among various organizations, and there is a growing demand for experienced and trained professionals in the continuity operations field. Some of the business continuity careers available include supply chain experts, business continuity planners, consultants and risk management professionals.

The field of business continuity focuses on the risks that could affect the operations of a given organization. Once these risks have been identified, business continuity planners plan how the organization will respond to those risks if they become a reality. The plans are devised to protect the operations and interests of the organization and allow the quickest business recovery possible when disaster strikes.

Of all the business continuity careers, the broadest is risk management. Risk managers are in charge of business recovery following a disaster, and they are also in charge of many other aspects of an organization's business operations, including purchasing insurance and coming up with other ways to mitigate the major risks facing an organization. These professionals not only learn about disaster recovery, they can also gain experience with property management, crisis handling, employee benefits and legal liability.

One of the more focused business continuity careers is supply chain specialist. Supply chain studies, also known as logistics, involve understanding and analyzing the many ways an organization receives material from its suppliers and the many ways it delivers it products to its customers. For very large global organizations, the supply chain can be quite complex. Even smaller companies can have supply chains that involve multiple suppliers in many different countries. Supply chain experts focus on preventing a break in the organization's supply chain and then on business recovery if a break does occur.

To ensure recovery, business continuity planners build redundancy into the organization's supply chain by having more than one supplier for any given part or at least, having a backup supplier should the primary one fail. They also dedicate careful risk management consideration to where the organization's warehouses and other facilities are located. For instance, putting a major distribution hub in an earthquake zone might not be the safest supply chain decision.

Whether business continuity professionals are risk management focused or experts in a particular aspect of business continuity, one of the business continuity careers they can enter is consulting. As disaster recovery or supply chain consultants, business continuity professionals can launch their own business or join an international consulting firm.